Drawing Some Refers for Online Learning Management in the Light of Cognitive Neuroscience Attitude about Learning

Document Type : پژوهشی

Authors

• Saeid Zarghami-Hamrah ¹
• Hamid Ahmadi-Hedayat ²
• Azam Taherkhani ³
• Parvin Bazghandi ³

¹ Associate Professor, department of philosophy of Education, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

³ Ph.D. in Philosophy of Education, University of Kharazmi, Tehran, Iran

10.22067/fedu.2024.80817.1242

Abstract

The purpose of the current paper is to explain the attitude of cognitive neuroscience about learning and draw its hints in online learning management. Cognitive neuroscience has provided some experimental data to explain the concept of learning at the level of the brain, in this article, they and facing some challenges related to the nature of online learning, and policies for managing online learning environments are proposed. For this purpose, more than using brain imaging methods and behavioral experiments, it has been necessary to rely on the theories emerging from the field of education. In this way, first, the four interwoven processes of attention, active engagement, error feedback, and consolidation have been listed as necessary conditions for learning, and then it has been explained that in the process of online learning, it is necessary to modify the mental model of learners by following the aforementioned processes. Then we have addressed the question of what policies or macro strategies can be used to modify the mental model of the learners. These policies include individualized learning, providing content related to life, providing modular, dynamic, and multi-level content, arousing excitement, paying attention to the embodied nature of learning, modular evaluation and self-evaluation, and relying on long-term learning for the strength of learning. Also, in the following, some platforms have been proposed to realize these educational policies.
Keywords: online learning, cognitive neuroscience, policy, management, platform.
 
Synopsis
is not a neutral tool and it has an essence that with its emergence and expansion in life, the same essence is imposed on our lives as well, and human beings provide the ground for the emergence and development of the essence of technology. Inspired by Heidegger's thoughts, Ihde (2002) argues that Information and Communication Technology(ICT), other forms of technology, by strengthening some aspects of our human experience, weakens some other aspects of our experience. Accordingly, Duncan and Sankey (2019) have pointed out the profound and unfortunate consequences of Cartesian dualism in educational systems and have given examples of the undue emphasis of some educational systems on cognition versus following emotion, they believe that knowledge about the neural bases of cognition and emotion can lead to the reform of educational policies. As the same way evidences from virtual education since the outbreak of the Coronavirus in Iran show that one of the reasons for students' dissatisfaction with the process of online learning is related to the embodied experience. For example, in response to expressing her feelings about online learning, the student said, "I learn when I'm in the classroom and my classmates are sitting around me" and her classmates often felt the same way. (Shabani Varaki et al., 2022) .
In the current study, to face such difficulty in the process of online learning, the perspective of cognitive neuroscience is used for learning. Cognitive neuroscience provides experimental data to explain the concept of learning in the brain, according to which it is possible to propose specific educational policies for managing online learning environments and some infrastructures or tools in line with the realization of these policies.
Conclusion
In the study, based on the findings of cognitive neuroscience, policies and strategies for managing online learning were presented. Such policies and strategies are capabilities for online learning, and two important points should be mentioned in this regard. First of all, such capabilities are only possibilities that can be realized under the condition of attention to them and the proper design of online education structures and systems. In this way, any online training does not provide such capabilities, and under the condition of proper design, it is possible to realize them in the process of online learning management. Second, such capabilities are not the result of ICT and its application in the form of online education, but online education has made it possible to realize them more than ever. In other words, these capabilities are the educational ideas that emerged from cognitive neuroscience in this research, and online education can provide the basis for their realization. Finally, the educational policies and strategies proposed in the current study are based on the four pillars of learning proposed in cognitive neuroscience, including, attention, active engagement, error feedback, and of learning.

Keywords

• online learning
• cognitive neuroscience
• policy
• management
• platform

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